


You and I

by hpd_lance, Kenmai



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Kanaya Maryam/Karkat Vantas Moirallegiance, Nepeta Leijon/Equius Zahhak - Freeform, implied gamtav - Freeform, implied meowrails, johnkat - Freeform, mermaid au, rosemary, some fluff here and there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:28:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3408923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpd_lance/pseuds/hpd_lance, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenmai/pseuds/Kenmai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mermaids are dangerous creatures that can change moods very quickly and don't fair well with humans.<br/>A mermaids' bite can signify three things:- 1) They bit you out of distrust/self-defense and then they released a small poison into you.The area where they bit would start to turn purple until it eventually rots, you die, or the bite just leaves you feeling sick for a week. 2)They bit you softly on purpose on the right side of your neck.This means that they trust you for now. The area where they bit glows silver a little at night. And 3)If a Mermaid bites you on the left side of your neck,sucks and licks the wound clean then they have chosen you to be their mate, or think that you would be a suitable mate. That bite wound glows red at night.</p>
<p>John is just too curious for his own good and ends up befriending a grouchy merman. This ends up getting him in quite a lot of trouble. John you dumbass. You never turn your back on the body. EVER. (Mermaid AU~)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Curse you Kaki for making me think of AU ideas and having the urge to write them! >B/
> 
> The art in this story belongs to me uvu. http://that-one-shipper-named-carly.tumblr.com/  
> Also check out Kaki's blog! http://moirails-for-life-yo.tumblr.com/

It was a pretty humid day out in the country. John and his sister Jade were sitting downstairs in their home, boredly watching t.v. as the electric fan whirred. That fan still wasn’t nearly enough to beat the heat radiating from outside though, so they'd sat down and made fans out of paper to fan themselves with. Jade was sitting by the door trying to feel the little gusts of wind that came through, and John was sprawled out on the ground. The floor felt nice and cool, but that didn't last for long. John quickly got annoyed at the floor for not staying cool, and he twisted and turned agitatedly; the program on television had long been forgotten by him.

He could hear their dog, Becquerel playing outside. Bec, as he called the dog, was running around in the grass and barking. John's Dad had gone down to the bakery earlier this morning and he tsked at the smell of baked goods that still lingered in the house. Luckily he and Jade had already worked the first month and a half there so Dad decided to let them relax for the rest of the summer free from work. Thank God.

With a little effort, he managed to move his legs to stand up. He sat down next to Jade and they both just decided to stay quiet for a moment, watching Bec and feeling the breeze whisper in their ears.

John had brought his legs up to his chest and crossed his arms on top of them, slanting his head to look at Jade slightly.

 “Hey Jade.” He mumbled.

She made a noise of acknowledgement as she fanned herself a little more, turning to him. “Hmm?”

“Would you like to go on a walk or something to cool down? Maybe get something cool to drink too?”

 She smiled and got up. “Sounds neat, John!”

He smiled back and lazily reached his hands out towards her. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet. After she let go, he stretched and went to find his shoes. After successfully finding them, he met Jade outside and closed the door.

Becquerel the dog ran up to them. He licked John's leg and jumped at Jade. She patted him on the head as the two made their way down the driveway and out the gate. Bec barked and started walking alongside Jade, looked as though he'd decided to follow the two today.

They kept up a leisurely pace as they made their way past a few houses. John saw Vriska and Sollux sitting down outside Vriska’s house. They were talking about something or the other as music blared from Sollux’s headphones. The two noticed John and Jade and waved. They were never really ones for walking, Sollux was a pretty lazy and liked to sit around all the time with his music and his computer, Vriska didn’t mind walking, as long as she had a purpose for it. For example, she wouldn’t leisurely walk for the fun of it. If she had to go somewhere important or if she wanted to start trouble, then heck yeah she’d walk or run.

As they passed them they said their greetings, Bec wagging his tail in happiness at the familiar faces. Vriska gave John a small punch in the shoulder, her dark brown hair with blue streaks blowing slightly in the wind.

John rolled his eyes and gave her a punch back. What? She was tough enough to handle his manly punches. His mangrit knew no bounds.

Jade had given Sollux a small fistbump as the two turned the corner. “I can’t believe they were arguing about Zelda. They’re just going to get hotter in the process.”

Jade shrugged. “I know, but that’s just how they are!”

John and Jade had talked about just about anything and everything that came to mind as they made their way towards a small convenience store. He opened the door for her as the bell overhead chimed, the two of them walking inside as Bec followed. They were automatically greeted upon arrival by their cousin Jake. Luckily Jake didn’t mind Bec waiting inside as long as he didn’t wreck anything. He smiled as the two of them approached the cashier’s counter. “What’s up you guys?”

Jade giggled a little. Ever since Jake and Grandpa had come back from their trip to England Jake had a bit of a British accent mixed with his original voice. It appealed to his charm though.

“Nothing much. It’s hot and we were bored so we decided to take a walk. Our legs lead us here I guess.” John shrugged as he and Jade sat down on nearby stools.

“Eh. I understand. You two can get something cool from the fridge if you want.” Today had been kind of a slow day since people would rather conserve cooling energy at their homes than make the trek to buy something cool to drink. Those lazy bums…

“Thanks!” They said simultaneously as they jumped off the stools and made their way to the fridge in the back.

“So how has uncle been fairing with the bakery?” They heard Jake call from the front.

John had opened the fridge and dug around and Jade had to push Bec back a bit from trying to get into the fridge.“Pretty good. People like chilled deserts to cool down with.” He answered.

“Although the majority don’t really want cake per say. Dad was heartbroken.” Jade pouted.

They heard a low chuckle from somewhere in the front. It was Jake obviously. “That’s quite a shame. I could just imagine his face now…”

John had picked out a simple can of apple juice, and Jade had gotten orange juice and a capri-sun. Sitting back down in their original spots at the front of the store near Jake, they both opened their individual beverages and took long sips; sighing in bliss when they were done.

Jade had taken off her sandals and wiggled in her seat as Bec licked her toes. She gently nudged him away and looked up at Jake innocently.  ‘Uh oh.’  John thought as he turned to look at Jake too, his goofy grin widening.

“So how have things been going with that boy toy of yours lately?” Jade asked boldly.

If Jake had been drinking something he would have spit it out, but he just settles for choking on air exasperatedly. He sputtered a bit and blushed. “Dirk is not a boy toy Jade, he’s my boyfriend! My mate.”

“Your brotato with benefits!” John offered.

“John I swear to God no what part of boyfriend don’t you two knobs understand?!?” Jake had practically yelled but the two siblings were laughing so hard they fell off their chairs.

Jake groaned in embarrassment and covered his face. “You two are fucking horrible.”

“Thank you.”

“Sweet.”

Jake rolled his eyes.

Just then a very familiar face had decided to make his presence known and walked in the store, light radiating off of ridiculous shades. He gave a small nod to a smiling John and Jade as he started to walked up to the counter where Jake resided. The goof was turning redder by the second as John and Jade watched in amusement.

“I guess we’ll be on our way now Jake! It was nice talking to you.” John said as he stretched.

“Bye Dirk.” Jade smiled as she waved at him, putting on her sandals. The two grinned smugly at Jake as they made their way to the door. Jade whistled and John waggled his eyebrows at him, closing the door behind Jade and Bec.

They laughed as they made their way onto the path back to their house.

John stopped suddenly. “Wait Jade!”

She quickly turned to look at him in alarm and worry. “What? What is it John? Is something wrong?”

John smiled as he patted her shoulder re-assuringly. No need to panic. He sort of felt bad for making his sister worry though. Just a little. “It’s nothing serious Jade. I just wanted to know if you’d like to take a different route home today? Dad won’t be home for another hour or so anyway. We could waste some time by walking a different route if you want!”

She stopped a moment to ponder this and then smiled. “Ok then. “

They wouldn’t get lost anyway, the town wasn’t big enough for it to happen. Besides, they both knew everyone and had grown up with them. They’d be safe nonetheless.

John smiled back as the two turned the opposite way and went through a few slightly familiar corners together as Becquerel trudged along.

Jade mumbled a few curses under her breath as she and Bec simultaneously spotted a cat down the street with all white fur. “Bec no!” She yelled as the dog frantically chased after the cat.

She quickly turned to John. “I’ll be back John! Stay here! No, better yet why don’t I meet you at home? I gotta go!” She instructed as she went to run after Bec.

“All right Jade. Be safe!” John yelled back at her and she dismissed him with a small wave.

He blinked a few times as he watched her disappear down the street and make a sharp turn as Bec chased after the feline. He really did hope that she’d be okay getting home, but they both knew very well that Jade was a lot more athletic than him, and could totally get there fine in any dangerous situation. He really should try to be stronger and get more muscle, he was pretty scrawny in his own opinion.

Anyway, he had the bright idea of visiting a beach! Beaches were always pretty cool, yeah? Especially since no one ever really goes to the beach in his town. It’s quite a shame too, since it’s a waste of fun, but there was a good reason he guesses. He shrugged as he made his way through a few corners; left, left, right, and then he walked through a vary narrow path in the bushes. He wiggled his shoes as the ground started to become softer until eventually he felt the soft pinkish sand in his shoes.

Playing in the sand couldn’t hurt too much right? It wasn’t like he was going to go in that beautiful ocean at all. That’s where the mermaids lurked. Mermaids were…dangerous right? Yes, they were, according to the townspeople. They had sharp teeth and weird fins and uh...big tails and all that other stuff yes…

John had never actually seen a mermaid, okay. He only knew of what people and the storybooks told him. Some said that they were ugly, some said that they were pretty. Apparently they even looked like humans, ranging from many colors; except they had fins and sharper teeth and certain other things. When the times comes he’d be the judge of determining how they looked to him. That is, if he ever even got to see one. Maybe he actually will get to see one someday! What if that day could even be today! Oh man that would be awesome.

He had the strangest but smallest of feelings that something or someone was watching him. He had looked around and saw nothing so he decided to shrug that feeling off.

He decided to take off his shoes and kick about on the sand and-Oh sweet! There was a small abandoned rowboat a little bit down the shoreline. He ran towards it quickly, examining it and smiling. That is just like the coolest thing he had seen all day. What if pirates traveled in this boat a long time ago?! Vriska would love to see this. No no wait, this would be too small to hold a crew of pirates, right...Oh wait! Maybe a stowaway rode this boat into town after they fell off a ship!

Haha, yeah. John's imagination is just too wild sometimes. He shook his head at his own goofy antics and smiled. He was always up to horrible pranks and shenanigans when Jade wasn’t around.

All of a sudden a splash had snapped him out of his musings. Um. The sea had been low and calm when he came here. How could such a splash resound from the ocean then? That wasn't an ordinary splash of the waves hitting against the sand, it was something, or someone!

And lo and behold, there it was. There _he_ was; an amazing looking mermaid... er…merman in this case, with red and black fins that framed his pale grey body; curiously, but intently staring at John. And his tail was just. Wow. His eyes were really yellow and…red! Oh man. This was too much for John to handle as all he could simply do was stare back. It was actually really close to him from where John sat. John was about 5 simple steps away from him and the water.

In his mind was on red alert. He didn’t dare breathe. He heard the these things were pretty fast despite how heavy they looked. He didn’t dare utter a word either, and he didn’t dare blink. That would just be asking for suicide. You must always keep your eye on the body. Never ever turn your back on the body. Not even for a second.

John weighed out his options on whether or not he should run or get closer.  Fuck it. He was gonna do the thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh im lazy.

John took a deep breath as he slowly slid down the sand, very slowly. He didn’t want to move too quickly or he might startled the creature away, or worse he might anger it and it would try and do something risqué. John’s legs were pretty lanky and lacking in the athletic aspect, so he wouldn’t be able to get away in time; especially since he’s on the beach alone by himself. No one would hear him if he screams, he’s sure of it.

No wait he wouldn’t scream. John Egbert is the definition of man-grit. He could handle a mermaid!

Actually he couldn’t and he can’t he is so scared right now. Luckily a sense of curiosity and adventure run deep in the family so he has a great urge to find out more.

Just when John had decided to start crawling down a little closer to the water he heard snarling and a low growl coming from the creature.

John froze and kept eye contact with it as he slowly started to back up. He stood up and backed his way up to the path all the while keeping eye contact with the merman out of fear. He really wanted to breathe, to do something like turn and quickly get away because his chest was tightening up. But he couldn't turn away. You must never turn your back on the body. That's like the number rule. Just never.

John was internally screaming as he kept a straight face on and ran home and bursting through the door and letting out a breath he didn’t know he was keeping in. Well he knew but nevermind that.

John’s legs collapsed near the kitchen and he started to have a panic attack. His mind was racing on the events of what had just happened.

His dad came out of the kitchen dusting the flour off his hands from the cake he was going to bake, but then he saw John and quickly ran towards him.

He kneeled down next to him and held his hand. “Son try to relax and take a few deep breaths. Name two things that you see.”

John’s eyes dashed around the room trying to focus on one thing. The room felt too small. “C-Ceiling……windows.”

“Great. Great. Now inhale. Exhale. Name two things you feel and hear John.”

John had a take a moment to breath. “You hand. The ground. I…I hear you and the whir of the fan.”

“Excellent. Now take another deep breathe. Yes, inhale…exhale.”

John could feel himself start to calm down as he followed his dad’s instructions.

“What do you like John?”

What did he like? He liked a lot of things, yeah? Um let’s see. “Food. Winter. Family. Games. Walking.”

Dad sat there with John until he had calmed down enough to sit up and thank him for helping him get through his panic attacks once again. “Are you okay now Son?”

Taking a deep breath he sat up and give his dad a small smile. “Yeah…I feel a lot better now. Hey Dad, when is Grandpa coming back by the way?”

His dad nodded and smiled back giving him a firm pat on the back. “Wonderful my boy.  Grandpa Harley is still on his hunting trip so...who knows! Also dinner will be ready in another half an hour or so. Remember to wash up first and be sure to tell Jade. She’s upstairs in her room.”

“Oh man! Jade” The last time he saw her he had left her to run after Becquerel. John ran up the stairs and went down the hallway to the first door on the left. “JADE.” He knocked and barged into the room.

Jade threw a pillow at him. “Geez John haven’t you ever heard of closing a goddamn door?” Did she just make a freaking reference? Goddamnit Jade.

Jade was currently sprawled out on her bed with Bec, listening to some music and dancing.

John sighed. He just wanted to see if she was ok. Well, she is.

“Bluh. I’m leaving now. Dad says dinner will be ready in about half an hour so wash up soon.” He had started to walk out the room when she called him.

“Hold on John.”

He turned to look back at her and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “So…where did you go when I said to stay right there? It literally took me a minute or two to get Bec back, but when I went back to the spot I left you you were gone. Thank you for ditching me.” She rolled her eyes playfully at that last part.

Sitting down in a more comfortable position she waited for him to answer her.

“Um, well I just decided to walk another way home.” Nice. Grade A pranksterism right there John. Way to tell a lie. Wait was pranksterism even a word???

Jade didn’t look quite convinced but she shrugged it off and waved him away. “Whatever. Get out now~ I have a cool playlist to breeze through also.” They both heard a beep come from her phone. She grabbed for it and smiled at the screen. “Vriska says hi.”

John hmphed and walked out the room muttering "tell her I said the same." Jade just knows him too well. She could tell he was lying. She may have pushed it aside somehow but she will be more persistent in finding out sooner or later.

* * *

 

They had spaghetti for dinner much to John's delight and he heartily ate the delicious meal. Dad was ecstatic. Excusing himself from the table John went up to his room and closed the door. He looked around at the many posters hanging on his bedroom wall. All those stupid movies from his horrible young teen age were still there. He had cleaned the walls of all those clown drawings though. He still finds that weird. Well, at least he had a clear view of the outside world from his window.

He sighed wistfully as the sky was almost a vibrant blue now.

John was in the least to say, curious…

Very curious…

Ok he was very curious, and it was eating away at him. Had he really seen a mermaid (Merman John. M-e-r-m-a-n. How hard is that to remember you prick?) or was that the summer heat? He just really really wanted to go back and see if all of that was true. Maybe even observe it some more. It was beautiful for one and it just looked really interesting. The eyes were yellow and kind of murky, maybe from being underwater a lot. It had claws and skin between its fingers. The majority of the moment was red and you thought it was just the most amazing thing ever.

Ok. It’s been decided. He was going back down to the beach tomorrow. He didn’t know how, or how he’ll get past Jade, but he just needed to see that…creature again. It left him wondering in his bed that thinking about all the many things that could’ve happened if he started there.

He needed to see them again. He’d probably regret this later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6vsHF3E9NU n o i c e. Gonna listen to the Johnkat theme song as i watch John fuck up. Wonderful~
> 
> *Kaki casually edits this* Okay I could have made a few more changes to the grammar but it doesn't really matter


	3. Chapter 3

He didn’t know how he was able to do it, but John found himself back at the beach. He'd somehow managed to get past Jade this morning, It wasn’t exactly easy what with her curiosity and questions though.

He had gotten out of bed this morning and lazily thrown on a t-shirt and some shorts, putting a small bag in his back pocket.

He'd had a little dream last night that he thought might work, but he'd need to go to the kitchen and sneak out towards the beach.

Making his way downstairs, he saw Jade sitting on the couch. She was on her 3DS playing Mario kart as the light of the T.V. dimly blared around the room. He'd tried to quietly walk towards the kitchen but she'd heard him anyway.

“Good morning John.” She said without looking up. “What are you doing?”

Shit. Maybe he could try to play it off.

He stopped and turned to face her with a disbelieving look on his face. “Duh Jade, getting breakfast of course. It’s why human beings have kitchens that they go to in the morning.”

“Geez Roll back the sass mister.”

Jade visibly rolled her eyes as she went back to focusing on the game. “I just wanted to know why you were dressed and up so early. It’s literally 6:30 in the morning and Dad just left awhile ago for the bakery. You never get up this early, only me, Dad and Grandpa if he didn’t go on that trip.”

Why does Jade have to be so observant? How will his plan work if he can’t even get to the kitchen properly!?!

“Can’t a guy just get up early for once? Besides I just wanted to grab a snack and go for a walk.”

“Well alrighty then. I’ll be here as always. Although I do have to say, you never go for walks this early John. You usually wait till lunch or a bit later.”

He shrugged as he started to walk to the kitchen. “The morning air feels really nice.” It was better for him to stop this conversation in its tracks while he still could. Jade was way too curious for her own good.

He smiled as he made his way to the fridge, eyeing the different options. Now what would a mermaid -scratch that, ‘merman’- want to eat?

He pursed his lips in wonder as he glanced towards a can of tuna. Mermaids usually stayed underwater yes? So then wouldn’t they eat fish and other various sea creatures? Maybe that would work?

He scoped the cupboards in search of anything else he might be able to carry, shrugging as he couldn’t really think of anything else. Stuffing the can of tuna and a little can opener in his bag, he started to walk towards the front door. “I’m leaving!”

Jade paused her game and looked up at him. She stayed silent for a moment and stared. “Be safe! And don’t do anything stupid…”Her voice lowered at the last part of her sentence as she squinted her eyes.

“Y-Yeah I won’t…Bye Jade!” John quickly ran outside and closed the door, taking a deep breath.

That whole scene back there made him nervous. Anyway, that’s how he found himself walking here on that same path towards the beach.

He'd been sitting here for at least two hours now though. The creature from yesterday had made no signs of showing up, and he was bored out of his mind. Just sitting here was doing nothing was horrible. He felt restless as he watched the waves and tried to draw in the sand in the hopes of keeping busy. Maybe he wouldn’t actually see the merman again…was it just his imagination?

It couldn’t have been. He was pretty sure that they existed, and what he saw was real. So very real.

He was still ready to head back home though. His hopes of seeing it again were still pretty small.

He sighed and collapsed on the sand. Just a little while longer and then he’d head home.

But then he heard it. There was something- or someone- moving in the water. He could distinctly make out the sounds of someone adjusting their position.

He shot up quickly and made a small noise of surprise.

The mermaid was there yet again, those same yellow eyes staring at him. This time it didn’t seem so curious though. It was glaring at him as if to stay ‘Why the fuck are you here again?’

John gulped but then remembered his bag.

Cautiously keeping eye contact with the merman, John reached into his back pocket and pulled out his bag. He noticed the merman’s eyes squint a little at the bag then quickly look back at him; it’s back hunching a little, and teeth starting to show.

He could feel himself trembling a little bit, but he still dared to rest the bag down on the ground. Taking the can of tuna and the can opener out the bag, he started to slowly open it. He could practically feel its eyes on him, watching his every move warily. He really didn’t mean any harm though. He would rather get to know more about it, become friends and prove to himself that if a seemingly mythical creature is alive what else is out there?

Somehow he successfully opened the can, and looking towards the merman- who still seemed to be tense and on guard, but he had relaxed just a little. Maybe it was the smell of the tuna?- he honestly hoped it didn’t think he would just try to strike out at it though, that would be horrible.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly crawled towards the creature. It backed up a little in alarm and raised an eyebrow in surprise, its eyes darting to the objects in his hand.

He nervously smiled a little and said, “Hi.”

It stared at him and blinked a bit, narrowing its eyes.

“I…I’m not sure if you can speak or whatever, or if you c-can even understand me, but I really don’t mean any harm.”

The merman tilted its head a little and slightly moved closer. It started mumbling something, but John couldn’t make it out. They sounded like…clicking noises?

John furrowed his eyebrows. “Um, I brought you some food. That is if you want it?”

The merman glanced at said food and sniffed. It reeled back loudly making clacking noises as if it were disgusted and snarled as it swiped the can out of John’s hand. It glared at John one last time before backing up and submerged back underwater.

John's mouth hung open as he stared at the ocean trying to process what had just happened. He glanced at the tuna now scattered across the sand, some of it floating in the water.

Well, tuna was definitely a no-no in his book now. Taking a deep shaky breath he got up and gave a quick glance at the ocean before making his way back up the path. He should be getting home soon, Jade might be worried that he’d been on a ‘walk’ for so long.

He hated lying to his sister but she just wasn't ready to find out about his little discovery. At least not yet. 

He did know one thing was for sure though...mermaids might be able to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc3KZ4jYXFk This came on while i was writing this and it sorta reminded me of the events that may happen later on u-u


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy...sorry i keep changing the POV. I decided i like it like this and i'm going the go back on the other chapters and fix that up. So no more 'You cant believe' 'You walk over to' 'You silently' 'You' I'll only do that in conversations if it helps ;v;
> 
> My apology is a sad Johnkat song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts108yDesZ4

A week had passed since John had started walking down towards the beach to see the merman every day. John had figured out that the merman had actually liked having raw meat or just meat in general. It hated tuna for some strange reason he still did not know and probably never would. The merman had always stayed nearby behind a rock watching when John arrived, observing him and deciding to come out when he was ready. John would try bringing different foods to see if the merman would warm up to him. It happened unexpectedly one day when John had snuck a large piece of steak from his dinner the day before. He was pleasantly surprised to see the merman not slap it out of his hand, but instead take what was offered to him and eat it.

John was so excited that day that he had ended rambling on and on about how the two of them would be the awesomest of friends and maybe even pal honcho’s. The merman had given him a slightly irritated look but it was amused nonetheless. Maybe he really did understand him!

John was still weary of its sharp claws and pointy teeth, but he still liked to sit close to it and talk about the events of his day.

Other days John would just sit near the mermaid and play in the sand as it watched him, but John’s curiosity was still eating at him. He had so many questions he wanted to ask the creature but you didn’t know if they could be answered. This merman only seemed to speak in strange clacks and clicks that came from the back of its throat as far as he could tell (if that truly was where they came from though, he wasn't sure). It had amazed John when he first heard it, idly wondering whether that was just a noise it made to represent certain feelings or whether or not it was a form of communication.

That was a few days ago though. John was currently sitting near the merman and watching the waves hit against the shoreline in silence. Every now and then the water would splash his toes and bring him out of his musings. John would then chuckle and wiggle his toes in surprise at the temperature of the water. The merman didn’t seem to mind that he was quiet today, although it did keep glancing at him every now and then.

Maybe it still was pretty wary of his intentions? All John really wanted to do was possibly become cool buddies with him though! Because like, hello this is a real live mermaid here folks. That can just about get the gist of what John says to it. Why would anybody not want to befriend it?

John craned his neck a little to look at him. “Hey.” John said as it sharply turned its head towards him. Geez did it want to get whiplash? Do mermaids even get whiplash? These are important questions indeed my friend. “Do you…do you have a name by any chance?”

The merman stared at John for a while, maybe even for a few minutes. Who knew how long it actually was? John just didn’t really want to look away in fear that he might think that he may not want to know anymore. He had already been working up the courage to ask him that, but he doubted he’d get an answer anyway. Maybe he’d give him an answer in that weird language of his? Come to think of it, is he actually a ‘he’?

What if mermaids all kinda look the same but have different genders or no genders at all, or what if genders look the opposite of what they truly are?? Or what if there weren’t actually mermaids and all just mermen, but the person who found this out just wanted to like, I don’t know gender-bend them so they could be sexualized or something!?!?

Wait…wait John. Just, calm down John, it was just one little question. He shouldn’t be freaking out like this. He’s just gonna give himself a panic attack. Yes. Calm down. Ok we’re good. Man his neck was actually starting to hurt a little.

After Johns’ weird musings he had focused back on the merman. John was quite sure he now had a goofy grin on his face due to how adorable the merman looked in that moment. Maybe he should just take back his question.  He was still staring at John, but then he nodded a little and John raised an eyebrow.

“It’s Karkat Vantas.” He heard him say softly.

John blinked for a moment in pure shock and disbelief as he let out a totally manly squeal. **_HOLY SHIT. MERMAIDS  CAN SPEAK. HE CAN SPEAK. HE IS NOW KARKAT. KARKAT CAN SPEAK; weird name BUT K A R K A T V A N T A S C A N S P E A K._**

Johns’ thoughts were running wild as he found himself rolling around the sand in excitement.

“Hey HEY CALM THE FUCK DOWN.” He shouted glaring at John as he did so. “You’re getting sand all over your human material you shit.”

John froze in his place on the sand and stared excitedly at him.

“M-mermaids can speak. They can talk oh my god this is amazing!”

“Well duh shit for brains.” Wow Karkat had sharp teeth. He really should try not to annoy him.

“And your name is so cool Karkat! Weird but cool!”

“Gee thanks.”

“It’s like, um. Beep beep meow! Ehehe.”

“Excuse me??”

“You know like…how cars go beep and cats meow and stuff.”

“I’m sorry what? You suck at descriptions.”

“Well, cars are these things humans drive around in, and the first part of your name is ‘Kar’ with a ‘k’ I’m assuming; and they have these horns that you can blow to alert people to get out of the way. It goes beep basically.”

“So the transportation devices humans use because they’re too fucking lazy to walk places and get shit done? Well at least now I know what the wrenching fuck they’re called. So thanks I guess.”

“Yeah no problem bro. The next part ‘Kat’ is, well a cat is like this really small animal that has fur and claws and a tail and-“

“A meow beast then?”

“If that’s what you wanna call it then sure. We call them cats though.”

“Eh but meow beast sounds 20% cooler.”

John squinted his eyes but shrugged it off. “Whatever beep beep meow.”

“I told you my name, _l I t e r a l l y_ moments ago. We just fucking settled this did we not? Can we not even??” 

John rolled his eyes and turned to better look at him. “Wait a minute Karkat. Why did you choose to talk to me though? Also to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting you to speak, let alone speak English.”

Karkat’s eyebrow furrowed. “I have my reasons. I don’t feel like fucking telling you though you prickshitter. Maybe when I decide you’re ready I’ll actually decide to give a fuck, but behold my garden of fucks are empty and there is no harvest for the elongated winter. Maybe you can come back when there are actually fucks to be given.” He tsked as John still had a smile on his face and continued on.  

“Mermaids speak many languages, we were around a lot longer and mostly just observe and learn by hearing and seeing.”

John blinked and then chuckled. “Oh. I’ve gotta say though. You sure do curse a lot for a mermaid, er merman! I still have to get used to saying that. Our species just usually categorizes all of you as mermaid’s majority of the time. Sorry…”

Karkat’s eyes twitched a little. He could not be even more surprised at the stupidity of the human race, this jerk-off included. Oh yes mega included. He should have just continued to stay silent instead of humoring himself by talking. It may not be so bad, tell the human your name and see what happens! Whoop-die-fucking-doo. “Anyway, I’m bored out of my mind right now so I guess I’m gonna go.”

“Karkat wait!”

Karkat’s fins wiggled a little in response and his eyes widened.  That looked so cute John just felt like touching his fins now. Aw but that might upset him. It would probably be best if he didn’t do that then. “…What?”

“Can’t you stay for a little longer? Please? We can talk about all my cool adventures and experiences and stuff, or maybe something else. My life is actually pretty ordinary I guess. Ooh! Or we can always talk about you. I’m actually quite curious and there are a lot of questions in my mind right now.”

“Do you ever shut up? Like seriously is there an off button or something? Where would I even be able to find such a button?” The merman gestured with his hands as he pointed at John. Geez those things were pointy!

Karkat seemed to be slightly amused though, and that was enough to make John smile. “Sure, I’ll stay a little longer. Entertain me with a story or something though. “

John’s smile widened into a grin. “Alright!”

John did just that as he tried to make himself comfortable on the sand. John talked about anything and everything that came to mind. He even told Karkat about books and movies, and although he wasn’t really that interested in books he did like movies and promised to bring his laptop next time so that they could watch some. Karkat seemed excited at the aspect of that idea.

“So there’s a place that you humans go to and learn about things?”

“Yup.”

“That’s actually pretty stupid. Shouldn’t you learn things from your mentor or lusus? Or by exploring and experiencing things? But then again you are humans. I should have realized this by now…”

“Hey! Humans are actually really smart-…no humans are actually horrible. So I guess I agree with you.”

Karkat shrugged. “I guess you’re not that horrible though. But the world is a big place human.”

John outright giggled as Karkat called him human once again. Wait did he even tell Karkat his name?

Johns’ thoughts were interrupted as the merman flipped him the bird which made him laugh again.

“Hey Karkat, I have a question.”

Karkat tsked and rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. Geez that’s just about all you ever have.” Despite what he said, Karkat had a tiny amused smile that begged to differ.

John promptly though of the phrase ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ but then his mind replaced cat with ‘Karkat’ and he giggled a little bit.

“What? What is it? Why are you fucking giggling?!?” Karkats’ smug smile had turned into a glare.

“It’s nothing it’s nothing. It’s just. What’s it like underwater? Do you have friends? Do you ever wish that you had legs?”

“I don’t feel like answering those. Actually I think I’ve overstayed my stay so I should probably leave now.”

“Aww man.” John pouted but a grin soon returned to his face. “Ok fine on really really really important question then.”

Karkat seemed to ponder this little bit of information over before he shrugged and turned to John. “Ask away I guess.”

“Will you be back tomorrow?” John seemed to whisper. Karkat almost may not have heard it had he not have such good hearing.

Karkat was a bit reluctant to answer and stiffened a little as he started to submerge himself a little in the water. “…Yes.” He simply decided to answer the human. John frowned a little as he watched Karkat fully submerge himself, his bright red fins and tail disappearing from sight.

John smiled a little as he stared at the ocean, bringing his legs up to his chest and resting his head on his arms. _“It’s John by the way, Karkat. John Egbert.”_

And somewhere down below Karkat couldn’t help but roll his eyes and snort, body gliding through the deep blue as he swam away. He smiled. “ _See you tomorrow John…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't stop listening to this h e l p m e https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XUjmkrSe8


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat may or may not look blue instrad of his regular grey seeing as in the picture it's night time, alright? owo
> 
> Art by me.

John had happily walked towards his home that day, excitement still bursting through his very core of what had occurred earlier between him and the merman. He now knew that merman’s name. That merman was called Karkat, and he was probably the best thing to happen to him so far in what seemed to be a dreary summer vacation.  He probably even had a whole life underwater! Er, whatever it was that mermaids –Mermen John, Mermen! - did in their spare time.

The breeze was lightly blowing and cooling John off when something had compelled him to go over to Vriska’s. He hadn’t hung out with her in awhile so he may as well stop in and say hi or something. Otherwise she’d go to his house unexpectedly and climb in through the window. It has happened many times before and it never failed to scare John every time.

Darn that woman!

It also made his Dad pretty angry sometimes since Vriska always came without warning beforehand and John sure didn’t want that to happen.

John was smiling as he found his legs walking up the steps to Vriska’s door. Her house was very pretty despite her reckless personality. It was a dark blue and had white decorations that lined the walls and fences. Ironically enough it reminded him of a spiders’ web. He wouldn’t tell Vriska though, she’d probably be pleased or something seeing as she has thing weird thing for arachnids of any sort. Ugh.

John was about to raise his fist to knock on the door when none other than Vriska Serket herself opened it before he could react. He stopped his fist in mid-air, luckily not making contact with Vriska’s face (she’d punch him back to equal it most likely) and grinned as he brought it down. “Hey Vriska!”

“Sup John. Are you just going to stand outside of my lovely abode all day or are you going to come inside so the day can move along?” She didn’t wait for John to answer as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside.

John chuckled as she closed the door and followed her as they passed the living room.

Of course it would be though. Vriska practically lived on her own since her mom was usually out on “business”. Vriska had yet to tell him what business meant though.

Dragging John up the stairs with her, they entered Vriska’s bedroom. He wasn’t especially surprised to see Sollux there playing on his Nintendo dsi in the corner though.

“Yo JN.” Sollux greeted giving a quick glance to John and then focusing on his game again. He must’ve been playing Animal Crossing, or maybe Pokémon.

“Hey Sollux!” John said as he lazily flopped down on Vriska’s bed. Vriska sat down close to him on the floor as she grinned at him.

“So what’s the plan for today?” John asked as he rolled over to look at Vriska.

“We could always prank someone?” Vriska suggested.

John sat up immediately. Pranks were his deal and he loved doing them. Coming up with ideas, getting supplies, setting up the pranks, and watching them unfold were amazing. “Nice. Nice. I second that motion.”

Sollux simply rolled his eyes. These two were nerds. That’s saying something coming from him.

“Alright then, got any ideas Johnny boy.”

John crossed his arms and folded his legs. “Hmm.”

“We can always kill someone yes?” Vriska turned to glance at John and Sollux and grimaced as they shook their heads. “No? No. Alright then. Another day…” She started to grin as they gave her worried looks.

“I vote.” Sollux said as he closed his DS. “That we hack into people’s accounts and send them memes or some shit.”

“Hmm hmm. Fair suggestion. I will consider.” John said nodding his head.

“Any other ideas from you then?” Vriska asked.

“We could always swap someone’s shampoo with honey. Hmmm, leave a bucket full of water over Jake’s shop? Use all the hot water so Jade doesn’t have any. We could also fill Equius’ tub with cat food and maybe put a bunch of empty jugs in Nepeta’s room…”

“Christ.” Sollux said as John started to ramble on about the ‘pranking possibilities.’

Vriska was laughing as John started to fully describe a milk prank in full detail that had Sollux feeling particularly sick.

Suddenly they all heard ringing from downstairs and came to realize that Vriska’s house phone was ringing.

“I’ll get it!” Vriska yelled as she sat up and ran towards her door.

“Hardcore parkour!” Sollux egged her on.

“Shit.” She cursed as she nearly fell trying to entertain Sollux.

“I warned you bout those stairs bro.” John grinned. A shut up was heard somewhere distant downstairs.

“Phone for you John!” Vriska called upstairs.

“Coming!” John gave a quick glance towards Sollux and carefully made his way downstairs. Vriska handed him the phone and went back upstairs.

“Hey John! I had a feeling you’d be here.” Jade’s cheerful voice greeted him and he put the phone to his ear.

“Hi, Jade. What’s up?” He raised an eyebrow as she continued.

“Dad says that you should start to make your way home for tonight since the sky is getting a little dark and dinner is just about done now.”

“Aw. Well okay. I’ll be there soon. Bye Jade!”

“Yeah see you soon dork.” John hung up the phone and turned towards the stairs. “I gotta go for dinner you guys.”

“Yeah sure whatever bye.” Sollux shouted.

“I’m offended John.” Vriska stuck her head through the doorway from upstairs. “Think of the missed pranking opportunities!”

John chuckled. “We can always do it another hot summer day. I gotta go now!”

They waved to each other as John made his way out the door and quickly towards his house.

“So wait. You still don’t know what Grandpa is doing on his trip?” John asked as he sat down at the dinner table that night. That night they were having tacos and John was delighted to find Dad had bought chocolate milk.

“I never said that.” Dad said as he wiped his face with a napkin.

“Yeah remember, he’s on a hunting trip.” Jade paused mid-bite of her taco and casually informed him.

“Hunting what exactly?” John asked unsure.

“Have we seriously never told you the story?” Jade asked in mock surprise. The smile in her eye spelled amusement though. “As much as Grandpa talked about it?”

John took a sip of his chocolate milk. “He always hung out with you though.”

“Eh. Well he’s hunting-” Jade paused and leaned in to whisper. “mermaids a few towns over.”

John paled as his eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“John! Have you even been paying any attention at all when Grandpa was around?”

“I may have let information be marked down as significant.”

Jade sighed. “Well, do you know that gash that’s on his right eye?”

“Yeahhhh?”

“A mermaid did that to him once while he was out fishing and took his eye. It’s the reason why he’s blind in that eye and had to get a glass one, remember?”

John snapped his fingers. “Yes that’s right! That’s why Gramps hates mermaids…Haha.I, may I be excused from the dinner table?”

Dad glanced at John and the two gave each other worried looks before glancing at John again.

“Well, sure. Remember to brush your teeth before bed son. Goodnight.”

“Yeah goodnight Dad. Night Jade.” And with that, John stood from his place at the table and went upstairs in his room. John had slept uneasy that night.

* * *

 

John had continued to visit Karkat to visit Karkat everyday and usually spent hours upon hours talking to him. It was still mostly about himself though and what he did every day, the people he knew and things he liked but for once John wanted to know more about Karkat. He had been dodging his questions ever since John had started asking them. He wouldn’t let up on him though. He wanted to know. He needed to know. He just had too.

John was on his back as he lied down on the sand, staring up at the sky; which had quickly faded from a pastel pink to purple to a dark cobalt blue. John had turned to look at Karkat who had been silent, and staring at him for awhile. They had just been enjoying the cool air tonight but John had been thinking.

“Hey Karkat.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have legs?”

“…”

John rolled over to move closer and stared at him.

“Sometimes I guess but not really. It would probably be nicer. Who knows? Hey, hey don’t stare at me with those pitying eyes. I don’t...do pity.”

“Hmph.” He sat up and crossed his arms, folding his legs as he slightly turned away from Karkat. “I was just asking.” John murmured as he furrowed his eyebrows and set his mouth in a firm line.

Karkat looking nothing short of bemused. “Well do you ever wonder how it feels to be a freak?”

John quickly whipped his head in Karkat’s direction. “I’m sorry what?”

Karkat shook his head and bitterly laughed. “It’s nothing John.”

John’s shoulders slouched as he stayed silent for a moment and whispered. “Well, I think being a mermaid is actually cool. If you look at it a certain way, water covers a larger portion of the Earth and that means you get to travel more places, see things we could never imagine of seeing because we run out of oxygen. You have cool fins and a pretty beautiful tail. It’s really red and shiny and scaly too so that’s nice. I just like how you look in general Karkat. So, yeah. I don’t think you’re a freak.” John turned so that he was facing Karkat. “You’re great the way you are.”

John smiled as Karkat stared at him for awhile and giggled.

“Did I uh, say something wrong? I warn you now I’m not taking any of it back because you’re great Karkat.”

Either it was just John or maybe it seemed as though the red was practically covering Karkat’s skin in the night air. Hehe. He seemed really red. Gosh. “Karkat?”

 John leaned forward to reach for Karkat’s head. Did mermaids even get fevers? Fuck how should he know?? “Hey are you ok?...” John trailed off and squealed as Karkat had grabbed his hand in one swift moment and slowly pulled him closer to bite into the right side of his neck. Karkat quickly realized what he was doing and pulled back, staring at John for a moment, as he watched the crimson red blood every human seemed to have trickled down his neck onto his shoulder blades. John blinked and used his finger to feel the right side of his neck. He glanced to look down at his fingers, the texture of his blood making him feel a little weird. Well then...

He glanced back up at Karkat. “Uh.”

 

Be Karkat =>

Cut the introduction short Holy shit blazing fuck you are screwed. Fuck you, and fuck your stupid quadrant wanting instincts. Just fuck everything. Why did you do that? Why were you about to do that? Why did you fucking mess it up, huh?

You paled as you realized John was still at a loss of words as he stared at you. Right. You were having internal war with yourself. Um.

“Shit. I uh, gotta go. Goodbye.”

Okay so you may have panicked a little; just a sprig. You may have fucked up Karkat Vantas.

 It’s not like you don’t always fuck up but this fuck up is just utterly and truly pathetic. You need to stop saying fuck up it’s getting pretty annoying. Well, the best you could go for right now was this anyway.  The important thing was that you needed to show John you actually appreciated his dumb ass and trusted him. Yes that’s what this was. Solely trust.  Ha. No ifs ands or buts about it. You weren’t sure how humans were with romance. They could probably be really wonky about it and stuff and you’re still not sure about a lot of things.

Oh god oh god. What if someone found out?? They’d probably cull you or hand you your ass on a silver platter.

Shit shiT SHIT.

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klHpznbGeYc Shooosh just let it happen eue.


End file.
